Is accessibility mandatory for my e-shop?

It depends on your size. The law (Greek Law 4994/2022, transposing the European Accessibility Act, in force since 28 June 2025) covers e-commerce, but it exempts very small service businesses, meaning fewer than 10 employees and up to 2 million euros in turnover. Most small e-shops fall under that exemption. Confirm it with your accountant or lawyer before you rely on it.

Then why am I being asked to have it for the grant?

Because the committee is a different thing from the law. A funding programme, such as one from the Greek public employment service, can set accessibility as its own condition or scoring criterion, regardless of whether the law obliges you. The terms and deadlines are per call and per beneficiary, not universal.

What does an accessibility tool actually do?

It gives the visitor buttons that change the page live: larger text, higher contrast, a dyslexia-friendly font, stopped animations, a reading guide, a big cursor, and ready-made profiles per need (low vision, dyslexia, motor, epilepsy and more). The settings are saved for the next visit.

How fast can it go in?

If the e-shop is built correctly from the start, the accessibility part is not a large project. I will not promise you a number of days without seeing what you have, because the honest answer depends on where you are starting from.

← All posts 16 July 2026 Updated: 24 July 2026

E-shop accessibility: the law vs the grant committee

You hear that your e-shop must be accessible for people with disabilities, and you are not sure it applies to you. Especially if you are chasing a grant and a committee will look at your site, the panic is understandable. And it comes from mixing up three different things: what the law says, what the committee wants, and what is simply right.

The law: what actually applies

The European Accessibility Act was transposed into Greek law as Law 4994/2022 and has been in force since 28 June 2025. It places e-commerce within its scope, so yes, e-shops are named explicitly.

But there is an exemption that changes the picture for most: very small businesses that provide services, meaning fewer than 10 employees and up to 2 million euros in turnover, are exempt. E-commerce counts as a service. So a small e-shop, with two or three people, is generally not legally bound.

This does not mean “forget it.” It means “find out where you stand before you panic.” If you are a large merchant, it applies to you normally. If you are small, the obligation probably does not come from the law. Confirm it with your accountant or lawyer, because your size and activity decide the outcome.

The committee is a different thing

This is where the knot comes undone. Many people hear “the committee wants it for the grant” and translate that into “the law requires it.” They are not the same.

A funding programme sets its own terms. It may want accessibility as a precondition or as a criterion that raises your score, even when the law does not oblige you. And the deadlines are not universal: the date you heard applies to your own call, not to everyone. Do not borrow someone else’s stress from a different programme with a different timeline.

In practice: read the call, see whether accessibility is a condition or points, and learn your own date. Then you decide with facts, not with panic.

What an accessibility tool actually does

With the legal part settled, the technical part remains. A proper tool gives the visitor buttons that change the page live, not a statement for show:

Text: larger size, more letter and line spacing, alignment.
Vision: high contrast, a dark theme, reduced or removed colour for colour blindness.
Reading: a dyslexia-friendly font, a reading guide that follows the cursor, highlighted links.
Motion and focus: stopped animations for epilepsy and ADHD, a big cursor, hidden images.
Ready-made profiles per need, in one click: low vision, dyslexia, motor, cognitive, epilepsy and more.

The settings are saved, so the same user does not have to set them again every time. And the tool itself works with a keyboard, because an accessibility tool that is not accessible makes no sense.

It is worth it anyway

Even if you fall under the exemption and nobody obliges you, accessibility is not a chore for the committee. It is real people who want to buy from you and struggle to do it today. A customer with low vision who can enlarge the text and finish the order is a customer you were about to lose. The committee’s checkbox is the trigger. The benefit stays afterwards.

And if other e-shop obligations are on your mind, like e-invoicing or digital delivery notes, the logic is the same: look at what actually applies, not at what scares you.

If you are building an e-shop and want to know what really applies to you, the law, a programme’s terms, or neither, write to me. Tell me your size and which programme you are running for, and I will tell you honestly whether you need accessibility by obligation, whether it is in your interest to have it, or whether it was just sold to you as panic.

FAQ

Is accessibility mandatory for my e-shop?: It depends on your size. The law (Greek Law 4994/2022, transposing the European Accessibility Act, in force since 28 June 2025) covers e-commerce, but it exempts very small service businesses, meaning fewer than 10 employees and up to 2 million euros in turnover. Most small e-shops fall under that exemption. Confirm it with your accountant or lawyer before you rely on it.
Then why am I being asked to have it for the grant?: Because the committee is a different thing from the law. A funding programme, such as one from the Greek public employment service, can set accessibility as its own condition or scoring criterion, regardless of whether the law obliges you. The terms and deadlines are per call and per beneficiary, not universal.
What does an accessibility tool actually do?: It gives the visitor buttons that change the page live: larger text, higher contrast, a dyslexia-friendly font, stopped animations, a reading guide, a big cursor, and ready-made profiles per need (low vision, dyslexia, motor, epilepsy and more). The settings are saved for the next visit.
How fast can it go in?: If the e-shop is built correctly from the start, the accessibility part is not a large project. I will not promise you a number of days without seeing what you have, because the honest answer depends on where you are starting from.